Chapter Twenty-One

Link

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Link kept whispering beneath his breath, pacing the asphalt at the front of the building near the alley entrance.

“Tell me again what happened,” Link growled, coming to a stop, his chest heaving, trying to make sense out of something that didn’t make any fucking sense at all. He couldn’t draw a breath, and he sure the hell couldn’t stop the rage rushing through him like fire licking a matchstick. Funny, with all the heat inside of his chest, he was freezing cold.

Squeezing his fists, he willed his body not to shake and his heart not to race and barely managed to remain still.

“Eagle and I went left, and Parker and Oliver went right at the end of the alley. There was a lot of gunfire and when the dust settled, Eagle was gone,” Hunter said, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck.

“What about you?” Link turned on Fisher and Creed. “Where the fuck were you?”

“We didn’t reach them in time,” Creed said. “All we found was Eagle’s earpiece and his Glock lying on the ground.”

“No signs of a struggle,” Fisher added.

“Jacob, can you sync our devices, please?” Dalton spoke the order quietly into the sudden silence.

“Copy,” Jacob said and hurried to climb inside the SUV with the command center.

Link took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Jordan, get me the address of any gang leaders in this fucking town.”

“I’m on it, boss.” Jordan jogged after Jacob and both men disappeared into the vehicle.

“Nobody sleeps, eats, or takes a fucking piss until he’s found,” Link ordered. He didn’t even look at Dalton.

This wasn’t Dalton’s call.

Recovering Eagle was Link’s job, and nothing and nobody was going to get in his way.

He went numb at that point, stalking past them all, ignoring Creed’s concerned gaze. Reaching the ATV, he stepped up into the tank-like vehicle. This was where they kept the big guns and every imaginable piece of weaponry and gear ranging from flash grenades, automatic rifles, knives, handguns, and tons of ammo.

Dalton stepped up into the vehicle and came to stand next to him.

“Don’t try and talk me out of it.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

Link shot Dalton a quick glance.

“I want these sons of bitches just as much as you do.”

“I doubt it,” he muttered.

“Okay, that’s fair. I always knew you two had a thing for each other.” Dalton nodded.

“Yeah, Eagle and I just need to figure out our shit.”

And they needed more time.

He couldn’t lose Eagle. It was too soon. They had a lifetime to live and grow old together. Sometimes, it took a life-altering event to make a person wake up.

And Link had woken the fuck up. He wasn’t going to let another minute pass without telling Eagle exactly how he felt. Even if Eagle wasn’t the type to share his feelings, Link would and could be that guy.

“Boss?”

“Go ahead,” Link responded to Jordan through his earpiece.

“I’ve got the address of the two local gang leaders, a Marco Woods and Ricky Elron.”

“Good, send those to our cell phones.”

“Also, there’s something else. According to the neighborhood mosque, the Richards are not and never have been members, unless they go out of town.”

“So, they may have lied.” Link slammed a fresh clip into his Colt 40 and tucked more ammo into his belt. He selected a Glock from the rack and tucked that into the back of his pants before clipping on the ammo belt.

“Yes, sir,” Jordan said.

“Can you have someone pick up Kenneth Richards for me?” Link slid a glance at Dalton, who was tucking away several weapons.

“Oliver, contact the local PD and have them bring Kenneth Richards to the crime scene for additional questions,” Dalton said over the comms.

“Copy,” Oliver responded.

Link pulled on a vest, positioned the FBI badge and chain around his neck, and then closed his eyes for a second.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dalton murmured. “Eagle is one tough SOB.”

“They’ve killed eight people already.” Link jerked his head to the bomb site as a silent reminder of the murders.

Dalton didn’t have much to say after that and neither did Link. When his phone pinged with the addresses of the two gang bangers, Link slipped into the driver’s seat of the ATV.

“Let’s move it.” Stepping to the open side door, Dalton yelled at the unit.

“What about Kenneth Richards?” Oliver said. “He’s arriving on scene.”

“Have the cops hold him,” Link barked. He wasn’t waiting for that punk to start telling the truth.

“How about I stay back and question him?” Hunter offered.

“No, I need your skills.”

Owen jumped in through the open side door of the tank, followed closely by Gage, Mason, Adam, and Ice. Ice placed Grit on the seat and buckled the pup’s vest to the seat, keeping the animal safe from falling about.

“Boss, we found something on the surveillance tapes,” Owen said.

“What is it?”

“Two members of NSV buying materials. Stands for Northside Vipers.”

“So, this is gang-related.”

“It appears so, but we still don’t know why they keep coming back,” Owen said, strapping into the seat next to Gage.

“They must want the owners dead,” Mason said, scratching Grit behind his tiny ears.

“Maybe the Richards failed to pay their monthly protection tax,” Adam chimed in.

“More like it was a ‘give money so we don’t kill you’ fee,” Mason responded.

Link pulled away from the bomb site with the other Pegasus units following. The heavy vehicles powered through the dark, wet streets, engines shaking the ground.

Eagle, hang in there, we’re coming. The more he agonized over Eagle’s capture, the more his head cleared up. Not many people they knew of could capture one of them unless they were outmanned or outgunned. It could have been both. Did they shoot him? No, they hadn’t found any blood near Eagle’s earpiece and gun.

That didn’t mean they hadn’t shot him later.

Stop.He let out a heavy breath and ten minutes later, he made a right at the street. Elron’s house was halfway down the block and Link punched it.

Gang members heard them coming. Those hanging around on the streets scattered like flies.

Link floored it and barreled up on the sidewalk and hit the brake. Mason, Oliver, and Jordan would make sure all Pegasus vehicles were protected during the raid.

Link jumped out and ran with Dalton, Gage, Ice, and Adam on his ass. They were quickly met by Hunter, Parker, Owen, Fisher, and Creed.

Link lunged up the front steps and kicked in the front door.

Yeah, no warrant, but Pegasus wasn’t designed for those tasks. They were designed to take out the scum when the cops’ hands were tied.

And today, Link was taking out the fucking trash.

“Get down!” Dalton’s big voice boomed through the room.

“Drop your weapons!” Gage followed, just as loud and deep.

Ice didn’t yell, he moved like a fucking ninja through the room, disappearing after two perps. A few seconds later, Link heard screaming.

Several perps jumped, ran, and scattered. The music was so loud, the room jumped beneath their feet. White lines of cocaine or crystal meth littered the coffee table. Cigarettes, booze bottles, and fast-food wrappers lay scattered around.

Link lunged for one of the perps and slammed him into the wall. The guy yelped and then groaned when Link twisted the fucker’s arm behind his back, lifting the guy up on his toes.

“Where the fuck is he?” Link snarled.